Production facility layout for automated controlled environment agriculture

ABSTRACT

Facility layouts and configurations for an automated crop production system for controlled environment agriculture. In particular implementations, the core of the facility comprises a controlled growth environment and a central processing system. The controlled growth environment includes systems for exposing crops housed in modules, such as grow towers, to controlled environmental conditions. The central processing system may include various stations and functionality both for preparing crop-bearing modules to he inserted in the controlled growth environment for harvesting crops from the crop-bearing modules after they have been extracted from the controlled growth environment, and for cleaning or washing crop-hearing modules for re-use. The remaining aspects of the crop production facility—such as seeding stations, propagation facilities, packaging stations and storage facilities—are arranged to achieve one or more desired efficiencies relating to capital expenditures or operating costs associated with an automated crop production facility.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

The present application claims priority to U.S. application Ser. No.62/752,980 filed Oct. 30, 2018, the disclosure of which is incorporatedby reference herein for all purposes.

BACKGROUND Field of the Disclosure

The disclosure relates generally to controlled environment agricultureand, more particularly, to production facility layouts andconfigurations for automated controlled environment crop productionsystems.

Description of Related Art

The subject matter discussed in the background section should not beassumed to be prior art merely as a result of its mention in thebackground section. Similarly, a problem mentioned in the backgroundsection or associated with the subject matter of the background sectionshould not be assumed to have been previously recognized in the priorart. The subject matter in the background section merely representsdifferent approaches, which in and of themselves may also correspond toimplementations of the claimed technology.

During the twentieth century, agriculture slowly began to evolve from aconservative industry to a fast-moving high-tech industry. Global foodshortages, climate change and societal changes drove a move away frommanually-implemented agriculture techniques toward computer-implementedtechnologies. In the past, and in many cases still today, farmers onlyhad one growing season to produce the crops that would determine theirrevenue and food production for the entire year. However, this ischanging. With indoor growing as an option and with better access todata processing technologies, the science of agriculture has become moreagile. It is adapting and learning as new data is collected and insightsare generated.

Advancements in technology are making it feasible to control the effectsof nature with the advent of “controlled environment agriculture.”Improved efficiencies in space utilization, lighting, and a betterunderstanding of hydroponics, aeroponics, crop cycles, and advancementsin environmental control systems have allowed humans to better recreateenvironments conducive for agriculture crop growth with the goals ofgreater yield per square foot, better nutrition and lower cost.

US Patent Publication Nos. 2018/0014485 and 2018/0014486, both assignedto the assignee of the present disclosure and incorporated by referencein their entirety herein, describe environmentally controlled verticalfarming systems. The vertical farming structure (e.g., a verticalcolumn) may be moved about an automated conveyance system in an open orclosed-loop fashion, exposed to precision-controlled lighting, airflowand humidity, with ideal nutritional support.

US Patent Pub. No. US 2017/0055460 (“Brusatore”) describes a system forcontinuous automated growing of plants. A vertical array of plantsupporting arms extends radially from a central axis. Each arm includespot receptacles which receive the plant seedling, and liquid nutrientsand water. The potting arms are rotated beneath grow lamps andpollinating arms. However, the spacing between plants appears to befixed.

U.S. Pat. No. 2,244,677 to Cornell describes a plant production systemthat conveys vertical box-shaped frame within a greenhouse structure. Achain-drive mechanism conveys the vertical box-like frames in a trackwhere they are exposed to controlled environmental conditions. Cornell,however, does not contemplate automated processing or harvesting of thecrops grown in the box-like frames.

SUMMARY OF THE DISCLOSURE

The present disclosure is directed to facility layouts andconfigurations for an automated crop production system for controlledenvironment agriculture. In particular implementations, the core of thefacility comprises a controlled growth environment and a centralprocessing system. The controlled growth environment includes systemsfor exposing crops housed in modules, such as grow towers, to controlledenvironmental conditions. The central processing system may includevarious stations and functionality both for preparing crop-bearingmodules to be inserted in the controlled growth environment, forharvesting crops from the crop-hearing, modules after they have beenextracted from the controlled growth environment, and for cleaning orwashing crop-bearing modules for re-use. The remaining aspects of thecrop production facility—such as seeding stations, propagationfacilities, packaging stations and storage facilities—are arranged toachieve one or more desired efficiencies relating to capitalexpenditures or operating costs associated with an automated cropproduction facility.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a functional block diagram illustrating an example controlledenvironment agriculture system.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of an example controlled environmentagriculture system.

FIGS. 3A and 3B are perspective views of an example grow tower.

FIG. 4A is a top view of an example grow tower; FIG. 4B is aperspective, top view of an example grow tower; FIG. 4C is an elevationview of a section of an example grow tower; and FIG. 4D is a sectional,elevation view of a portion of an example grow tower.

FIG. 5A is a perspective view of a portion of an example grow line; andFIG. 5B is a perspective view of an example tower hook.

FIG. 6 is an exploded, perspective view of a portion of an example growline and reciprocating cam mechanism.

FIG. 7A is a sequence diagram illustrating operation of an examplereciprocating cam mechanism; and FIG. 7B illustrates an alternative camchannel including an expansion joint.

FIG. 8 is a profile view of an example grow line and irrigation supplyline.

FIG. 9 is a side view of an example tower hook and integrated funnelstructure.

FIG. 10 is a profile view of an example grow line.

FIG. 11A is perspective view of an example tower hook and integratedfunnel structure;

FIG. 11B is a section view of an example tower hook and integratedfunnel structure; and

FIG. 11C is a top view of an example tower hook and integrated funnelstructure.

FIG. 12 is an elevation view of an example carriage assembly.

FIG. 13A is an elevation view of the example carriage assembly from analternative angle to FIG. 12; and FIG. 13B is a perspective view of theexample carriage assembly.

FIG. 14 is a partial perspective view of an example automated laydownstation.

FIG. 15A is a partial perspective view of an example automated pickupstation; and,

FIG. 15B is an alternative partial perspective view of the exampleautomated pickup station.

FIG. 16 is a perspective view of an example end effector for use in anautomated pickup or laydown station.

FIGS. 17A and 17B are partial, perspective views of an example gripperassembly mounted to an end effector for releasably grasping grow towers.

FIG. 18 is a partial perspective view of the example automated pickupstation.

FIG. 19 is partial perspective view of the example automated pickupstation that illustrates an example constraining mechanism thatfacilitates location of grow towers.

FIG. 20 is a side view of an example inbound harvester conveyor.

FIG. 21A is a functional block diagram of the stations and conveyancemechanisms of an example central processing system; FIG. 21B is aperspective view of a central processing system according to analternative implementation of the invention; FIG. 21C is a top view ofthe alternative central processing system depicted in FIG. 21B; FIG. 21Dis an example horizontal tower buffer; FIG. 21E is a schematic diagramillustrating an example configuration of a vertical tower conveyancesystem with the central processing system; and FIG. 21F is a sectionaldiagram illustrating an example pre-harvest buffering system.

FIG. 22 is a partial perspective view of an example pickup conveyor.

FIG. 23A is a perspective view of an example harvester station; FIG. 23Bis a top view of an example harvester machine; and FIG. 23C is aperspective view of an example harvester machine.

FIG. 24A is an elevation view of an example end effector for use in atransplanter station; and FIG. 24B is a perspective view of atransplanter station.

FIG. 25 illustrates an example of a computer system that may be used toexecute instructions stored in a non-transitory computer readable medium(e.g., memory) in accordance with embodiments of the disclosure.

FIG. 26 is a functional block diagram illustrating an example cropproduction facility layout.

FIG. 27 is a functional block diagram illustrating another example cropproduction facility layout.

FIG. 28 is a functional block diagram illustrating yet another examplecrop production facility layout.

FIG. 29 is a functional block diagram illustrating yet another examplecrop production facility layout.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The present description is made with reference to the accompanyingdrawings, in which various example embodiments are shown. However, manydifferent example embodiments may be used, and thus the descriptionshould not be construed as limited to the example embodiments set forthherein. Rather, these example embodiments are provided so that thisdisclosure will be thorough and complete. Various modifications to theexemplary embodiments will be readily apparent to those skilled in theart, and the generic principles defined herein may be applied to otherembodiments and applications without departing from the spirit and scopeof the disclosure. Thus, this disclosure is not intended to be limitedto the embodiments shown, but is to be accorded the widest scopeconsistent with the principles and features disclosed herein.

Operating cost and capital expenditure concerns are key drivers tocommercial implementation of large-scale controlled environmentagriculture. Commercial scale, indoor crop production facilities includea large array of processing stations and equipment. For example, indoorcrop production facilities may include stations and related equipmentto: fill plug trays with soil and seed them; grow crops from seed to astage ready for transplant; transplant the seedlings to a crop-holdingmodule; transfer the crop-holding module to a growth environment;harvest crops in the crop-holding module; clean and package theharvested crop; and store the harvested crop. Commercial scalefacilities may also include loading bays and inventory handlingmechanisms to receive inbound supplies used in operating the facilityand to ship out the resulting crop. Arranging these stations andequipment in an efficient manner can be a complex task and is extremelyimportant to the success of a commercial-scale facility. Factors thatthis disclosure considers to increase cost efficiency include spaceutilization and total flow distance of product from seed stage toharvest and packaging. Other factors considered include the total lengthof materials required to construction the facility (such as total lengthof walls, HVAC ducting and the like), and the distances that facilityworkers are required to travel during standard processing operations.These factors, as well as equipment layout clearances and local fire andbuilding regulations, may combine to yield a crop production facilitylayout.

The following describes a vertical farm production system configured forhigh density growth and crop yield. FIGS. 1 and 2 illustrate acontrolled environment agriculture system 10 according to one possibleembodiment of the invention. At a high level, the system 10 may includean environmentally-controlled growing chamber 20, a vertical towerconveyance system 200 disposed within the growing chamber 20 andconfigured to convey grow towers 50 with crops disposed therein, and acentral processing facility 30. The central processing facility 30 maybe a clean room environment to keep contaminants and pollutants withinacceptable limits. Air filtration, transfer and other systems may beemployed to effect a clean room environment to meet required food safetystandards.

The growing chamber 20 may contain one to a plurality of vertical growlines 202 that include conveyance systems to translate grow towers 50along the grow lines 202 within the growing chamber 20. The crops orplants species that may be grown may be gravitropic/geotropic and/orphototropic, or some combination thereof. The crops or plant species mayvary considerably and include various leaf vegetables, fruitingvegetables, flowering crops, fruits and the like. The controlledenvironment agriculture system 10 may be configured to grow a singlecrop type at a time or to grow multiple crop types concurrently.

The system 10 may also include conveyance systems for moving the growtowers in a circuit throughout the crop's growth cycle, the circuitcomprising a staging area configured for loading the grow towers intoand out of the vertical tower conveyance mechanism 200. The centralprocessing system 30 may include one or more conveyance mechanisms fordirecting grow towers to stations in the central processing system30—e.g., stations for loading plants into, and harvesting crops from,the grow towers. The vertical tower conveyance system 200, within thegrowing chamber 20, is configured to support and translate one or moregrow towers 50 along grow lines 202. Each grow tower 50 is configuredfor containing plant growth media that supports a root structure of atleast one crop plant growing therein. Each grow tower 50 is alsoconfigured to releasably attach to a grow line 202 in a verticalorientation and move along the grow line 202 during a growth phase.Together, the vertical tower conveyance mechanism 200 and the centralprocessing system 30 (including associated conveyance mechanisms) can bearranged in a production circuit under control of one or more computingsystems.

The growth environment 20 may include light emitting sources positionedat various locations between and along the grow lines 202 of thevertical tower conveyance system 200. The light emitting sources can bepositioned laterally relative to the grow towers 50 in the grow line 202and configured to emit light toward the lateral faces of the grow towers50 that include openings from which crops grow. The light emittingsources may be incorporated into a water-cooled, LED lighting system asdescribed in U.S. Publ. No. 2017/0146226A1, the disclosure of which isincorporated by reference herein. In such an embodiment, the LED lightsmay be arranged in a bar-like structure. The bar-like structure may beplaced in a vertical orientation to emit light laterally tosubstantially the entire length of adjacent grow towers 50. Multiplelight bar structures may be arranged in the growth environment 20 alongand between the grow lines 202. Other lighting systems andconfigurations may be employed. For example, the light bars may bearranged horizontally between grow lines 202.

The growth environment 20 may also include a nutrient supply systemconfigured to supply an aqueous crop nutrient solution to the crops asthey translate through the growth chamber 20. As discussed in moredetail below, the nutrient supply system may apply aqueous crop nutrientsolution to the top of the grow towers 50. Gravity may cause thesolution travel down the vertically-oriented grow tower 50 and throughthe length thereof to supply solution to the crops disposed along thelength of the grow tower 50. The growth environment 20 may also includean airflow source configured to, when a tower is mounted to a grow line202, direct airflow in the lateral growth direction of growth andthrough an under-canopy of the growing plant, so as to disturb theboundary layer of the under-canopy of the growing plant. In otherimplementations, airflow may come from the top of the canopy ororthogonal to the direction of plant growth. The growth environment 20may also include a control system, and associated sensors, forregulating at least one growing condition, such as air temperature,airflow speed, relative air humidity, and ambient carbon dioxide gascontent. The control system may for example include such sub-systems asHVAC units, chillers, fans and associated ducting and air handlingequipment. Grow towers 50 may have identifying attributes (such as barcodes or RFID tags). The controlled environment agriculture system 10may include corresponding sensors and programming logic for tracking thegrow towers 50 during various stages of the farm production cycle and/orfor controlling one or more conditions of the growth environment. Theoperation of control system and the length of time towers remain ingrowth environment can vary considerably depending on a variety offactors, such as crop type and other factors.

As discussed above, grow towers 50 with newly transplanted crops orseedlings are transferred from the central processing system 30 into thevertical tower conveyance system 200. Vertical tower conveyance system200 moves the grow towers 50 along respective grow lines 202 in growthenvironment 20 in a controlled fashion, as discussed in more detailbelow. Crops disposed in grow towers 50 are exposed to the controlledconditions of growth environment (e.g., light, temperature, humidity,air flow, aqueous nutrient supply, etc.). The control system is capableof automated adjustments to optimize growing conditions within thegrowth chamber 20 to make continuous improvements to various attributes,such as crop yields, visual appeal and nutrient content. In addition, USPatent Publication Nos. 2018/0014485 and 2018/0014486 describeapplication of machine learning and other operations to optimize growconditions in a vertical farming system. In some implementations,environmental condition sensors may be disposed on grow towers 50 or atvarious locations in growth environment 20. When crops are ready forharvesting, grow towers 50 with crops to be harvested are transferredfrom the vertical tower conveyance system 200 to the central processingsystem 30 for harvesting and other processing operations.

Central processing system 30, as discussed in more detail below, mayinclude processing stations directed to injecting seedlings into towers50, harvesting crops from towers 50, and cleaning towers 50 that havebeen harvested. Central processing system 30 may also include conveyancemechanisms that move towers 50 between such processing stations. Forexample, as FIG. 1 illustrates, central processing system 30 may includeharvester station 32, washing station 34, and transplanter station 36.Harvester station 32 may deposit harvested crops into food-safecontainers and may include a conveyance mechanism for conveying thecontainers to post-harvesting facilities (e.g., preparation, washing,packaging and storage) that are beyond the scope of this disclosure.

Controlled environment agriculture system 10 may also include one ormore conveyance mechanisms for transferring grow towers 50 betweengrowth environment 20 and central processing system 30. In theimplementation shown, the stations of central processing system 30operate on grow towers 50 in a horizontal orientation. In oneimplementation, an automated pickup station 43, and associated controllogic, may be operative to releasably grasp a horizontal tower from aloading location, rotate the tower to a vertical orientation and attachthe tower to a transfer station for insertion into a selected grow line202 of the growth environment 20. On the other end of growth environment20, automated laydown station 41, and associated control logic, may beoperative to releasably grasp and move a vertically-oriented grow tower50 from a buffer location, rotate the grow tower 50 to a horizontalorientation and place it on a conveyance system for loading intoharvester station 32. In some implementations, if a grow tower 50 isrejected due to quality control concerns, the conveyance system maybypass the harvester station 32 and carry the grow tower to washingstation 34 (or some other station). The automated laydown and pickupstations 41 and 43 may each comprise a six-degrees of freedom roboticarm, such as a FANUC robot. The stations 41 and 43 may also include endeffectors for releasably grasping grow towers 50 at opposing ends.

Growth environment 20 may also include automated loading and unloadingmechanisms for inserting grow towers 50 into selected grow lines 202 andunloading grow towers 50 from the grow lines 202. In one implementation,the load transfer conveyance mechanism 47 may include a powered and freeconveyor system that conveys carriages each loaded with a grow tower 50from the automated pickup station 43 to a selected grow line 202.Vertical grow tower conveyance system 200 may include sensors (such asRFID or bar code sensors) to identify a given grow tower 50 and, undercontrol logic, select a grow line 202 for the grow tower 50. Particularalgorithms for grow line selection can vary considerably depending on anumber of factors and is beyond the scope of this disclosure. The loadtransfer conveyance mechanism 47 may also include one or more linearactuators that pushes the grow tower 50 onto a grow line 202. Similarly,the unload transfer conveyance mechanism 45 may include one or morelinear actuators that push or pull grow towers from a grow line 202 ontoa carriage of another powered and free conveyor mechanism, which conveysthe carriages 1202 from the grow line 202 to the automated laydownstation 41. FIG. 12 illustrates a carriage 1202 that may be used in apowered and free conveyor mechanism. In the implementation shown,carriage 1202 includes hook 1204 that engages hook 52 attached to a growtower 50. A latch assembly 1206 may secure the grow tower 50 while it isbeing conveyed to and from various locations in the system. In oneimplementation, one or both of load transfer conveyance mechanism 47 andunload transfer conveyance mechanism 45 may be configured with asufficient track distance to establish a zone where grow towers 50 maybe buffered. For example, unload transfer conveyance mechanism 45 may becontrolled such that it unloads a set of towers 50 to be harvested untocarriages 1202 that are moved to a buffer region of the track. On theother end, automated pickup station 43 may load a set of towers to beinserted into growth environment 20 onto carriages 1202 disposed in abuffer region of the track associated with load transfer conveyancemechanism 47.

Grow Towers

Grow towers 50 provide the sites for individual crops to grow in thesystem. As FIGS. 3A and 3B illustrate, a hook 52 attaches to the top ofgrow tower 50. Hook 52 allows grow tower 50 to be supported by a growline 202 when it is inserted into the vertical tower conveyance system200. In one implementation, a grow tower 50 measures 5.172 meters long,where the extruded length of the tower is 5.0 meters, and the hook is0.172 meters long. The extruded rectangular profile of the grow tower50, in one implementation, measures 57 mm×93 mm (2.25″×3.67″). The hook52 can be designed such that its exterior overall dimensions are notgreater than the extruded profile of the grow tower 50. The foregoingdimensions are for didactic purposes. The dimensions of grow tower 50can be varied depending on a number of factors, such as desiredthroughput, overall size of the system, and the like.

Grow towers 50 may include a set of grow sites 53 arrayed along at leastone face of the grow tower 50. In the implementation shown in FIG. 4A,grow towers 50 include grow sites 53 on opposing faces such that plantsprotrude from opposing sides of the grow tower 50. Transplanter station36 may transplant seedlings into empty grow sites 53 of grow towers 50,where they remain in place until they are fully mature and ready to beharvested. In one implementation, the orientation of the grow sites 53are perpendicular to the direction of travel of the grow towers 50 alonggrow line 202. In other words, when a grow tower 50 is inserted into agrow line 202, plants extend from opposing faces of the grow tower 50,where the opposing faces are parallel to the direction of travel.Although a dual-sided configuration is preferred, the invention may alsobe utilized in a single-sided configuration where plants grow along asingle face of a grow tower 50.

U.S. application Ser. No. 15/968,425 filed on May 1, 2018 which isincorporated by reference herein for all purposes, discloses an exampletower structure configuration that can be used in connection withvarious embodiments of the invention. In the implementation shown, growtowers 50 may each consist of three extrusions which snap together toform one structure. As shown, the grow tower 50 may be a dual-sidedhydroponic tower, where the tower body 103 includes a central wall 56that defines a first tower cavity 54 a and a second tower cavity 54 b.FIG. 4B provides a perspective view of an exemplary dual-sided,multi-piece hydroponic grow tower 50 in which each front face plate 101is hingeably coupled to the tower body 103. In FIG. 4B, each front faceplate 101 is in the closed position. The cross-section of the towercavities 54 a, 54 b may be in the range of 1.5 inches by 1.5 inches to 3inches by 3 inches, where the term “tower cavity” refers to the regionwithin the body of the tower and behind the tower face plate. The wallthickness of the grow towers 50 maybe within the range of 0.065 to 0.075inches. A dual-sided hydroponic tower, such as that shown in FIGS. 4Aand 4B, has two back-to-back cavities 54 a and 54 b, each preferablywithin the noted size range. In the configuration shown, the grow tower50 may include (i) a first V-shaped groove 58 a running along the lengthof a first side of the tower body 103, where the first V-shaped grooveis centered between the first tower cavity and the second tower cavity;and (ii) a second V-shaped groove 58 b running along the length of asecond side of the tower body 103, where the second V-shaped groove iscentered between the first tower cavity and the second tower cavity. TheV-shaped grooves 58 a, 58 b may facilitate registration, alignmentand/or feeding of the towers 50 by one or more of the stations incentral processing system 30. U.S. application Ser. No. 15/968,425discloses additional details regarding the construction and use oftowers that may be used in embodiments of the invention. Anotherattribute of V-shaped grooves 58 a, 58 b is that they effectively narrowthe central wall 56 to promote the flow of aqueous nutrient solutioncentrally where the plant's roots are located. Other implementations arepossible. For example, a grow tower 50 may be formed as a unitary,single extrusion, where the material at the side walls flex to provide ahinge and allow the cavities to be opened for cleaning. U.S. applicationSer. No. 16/577,322 filed on Sep. 20, 2019 which is incorporated byreference herein for all purposes, discloses an example grow tower 50formed by a single extrusion.

As FIGS. 4C and 4D illustrate, grow towers 50 may each include aplurality of cut-outs 105 for use with a compatible plug holder 158,such as the plug holder disclosed in any one of co-assigned andco-pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 15/910,308, Ser. No.15/910,445 and Ser. No. 15/910,796, each filed on 2 Mar. 2018, thedisclosures of which is incorporated herein for any and all purposes. Asshown, the plug holders 158 may be oriented at a 45-degree anglerelative to the front face plate 101 and the vertical axis of the growtower 50. It should be understood, however, that tower design disclosedin the present application is not limited to use with this particularplug holder or orientation, rather, the towers disclosed herein may beused with any suitably sized and/or oriented plug holder. As such,cut-outs 105 are only meant to illustrate, not limit, the present towerdesign and it should be understood that the present invention is equallyapplicable to towers with other cut-out designs. Plug Holder 158 may beultrasonically welded, bonded, or otherwise attached to tower face 101.

The use of a hinged front face plate simplifies manufacturing of growtowers, as well as tower maintenance in general and tower cleaning inparticular. For example, to clean a grow tower 50 the face plates 101are opened from the body 103 to allow easy access to the body cavity 54a or 54 b. After cleaning, the face plates 101 are closed. Since theface plates remain attached to the tower body 103 throughout thecleaning process, it is easier to maintain part alignment and to insurethat each face plate is properly associated with the appropriate towerbody and, assuming a double-sided tower body, that each face plate 101is properly associated with the appropriate side of a specific towerbody 103. Additionally, if the planting and/or harvesting operations areperformed with the face plate 101 in the open position, for thedual-sided configuration both face plates can be opened andsimultaneously planted and/or harvested, thus eliminating the step ofplanting and/or harvesting one side and then rotating the tower andplanting and/or harvesting the other side. In other embodiments,planting and/or harvesting operations are performed with the face plate101 in the closed position.

Other implementations are possible. For example, grow tower 50 cancomprise any tower body that includes a volume of medium or wickingmedium extending into the tower interior from the face of the tower(either a portion or individual portions of the tower or the entirety ofthe tower length. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 8,327,582, which isincorporated by reference herein, discloses a grow tube having a slotextending from a face of the tube and a grow medium contained in thetube. The tube illustrated therein may be modified to include a hook 52at the top thereof and to have slots on opposing faces, or one slot on asingle face.

Vertical Tower Conveyance System

FIG. 5A illustrates a portion of a grow line 202 in vertical towerconveyance system 200. In one implementation, the vertical towerconveyance system 200 includes a plurality of grow lines 202 arranged inparallel. As discussed above, automated loading and unloading mechanisms45, 47 may selectively load and unload grow towers 50 from a grow line202 under automated control systems. As FIG. 5A shows, each grow line202 supports a plurality of grow towers 50. In one implementation, agrow line 202 may be mounted to the ceiling (or other support) of thegrow structure by a bracket for support purposes. Hook 52 hooks into,and attaches, a grow tower 50 to a grow line 202, thereby supporting thetower in a vertical orientation as it is translated through the verticaltower conveyance system 200. A conveyance mechanism moves towers 50attached to respective grow lines 202.

FIG. 10 illustrates the cross section or extrusion profile of a growline 202, according to one possible implementation of the invention. Thegrow line 202 may be an aluminum extrusion. The bottom section of theextrusion profile of the grow line 202 includes an upward facing groove1002. As FIG. 9 shows, hook 52 of a grow tower 50 includes a main body53 and corresponding member 58 that engages groove 1002 as shown inFIGS. 5A and 8. These hooks allow the grow towers 50 to hook into thegroove 1002 and slide along the grow line 202 as discussed below.Conversely, grow towers 50 can be manually unhooked from a grow line 202and removed from production. This ability may be necessary if a crop ina grow tower 50 becomes diseased so that it does not infect othertowers. In one possible implementation, the width of groove 1002 (forexample, 13 mm) is an optimization between two different factors. First,the narrower the groove the more favorable the binding rate and the lesslikely grow tower hooks 52 are to bind. Conversely, the wider the groovethe slower the grow tower hooks wear due to having a greater contactpatch. Similarly, the depth of the groove, for example 10 mm, may be anoptimization between space savings and accidental fallout of towerhooks.

Hooks 52 may be injection-molded plastic parts. In one implementation,the plastic may be polyvinyl chloride (PVC), acrylonitrile butadienestyrene (ABS), or an Acetyl Homopolymer (e.g., Delrin® sold by DuPontCompany). The hook 52 may be solvent bonded to the top of the grow tower50 and/or attached using rivets or other mechanical fasteners. Thegroove-engaging member 58 which rides in the rectangular groove 1002 ofthe grow line 202 may be a separate part or integrally formed with hook52. If separate, this part can be made from a different material withlower friction and better wear properties than the rest of the hook,such as ultra-high-molecular weight polyethylene or acetal. To keepassembly costs low, this separate part may snap onto the main body ofthe hook 52. Alternatively, the separate part also be over-molded ontothe main body of hook 52.

As FIGS. 6 and 10 illustrate, the top section of the extrusion profileof grow line 202 contains a downward facing t-slot 1004. Linear guidecarriages 610 (described below) ride within the t-slot 1004. The centerportion of the t-slot 1004 may be recessed to provide clearance fromscrews or over-molded inserts which may protrude from the carriages 610.Each grow line 202 can be assembled from a number of separatelyfabricated sections. In one implementation, sections of grow line 202are currently modeled in 6-meter lengths. Longer sections reduce thenumber of junctions but are more susceptible to thermal expansion issuesand may significantly increase shipping costs. Additional features notcaptured by the Figures include intermittent mounting holes to attachthe grow line 202 to the ceiling structure and to attach irrigationlines. Interruptions to the t-slot 1004 may also be machined into theconveyor body. These interruptions allow the linear guide carriages 610to be removed without having to slide them all the way out the end of agrow line 202.

At the junction between two sections of a grow line 202, a block 612 maybe located in the t-slots 1004 of both conveyor bodies. This blockserves to align the two grow line sections so that grow towers 50 mayslide smoothly between them. Alternative methods for aligning sectionsof a grow line 202 include the use of dowel pins that fit into dowelholes in the extrusion profile of the section. The block 612 may beclamped to one of the grow line sections via a set screw, so that thegrow line sections can still come together and move apart as the resultof thermal expansion. Based on the relatively tight tolerances and smallamount of material required, these blocks may be machined. Bronze may beused as the material for such blocks due to its strength, corrosionresistance, and wear properties.

In one implementation, the vertical tower conveyance system 200 utilizesa reciprocating linear ratchet and pawl structure (hereinafter referredto as a “reciprocating cam structure or mechanism”) to move grow towers50 along a path section 202 a, 202 b of a grow line 202. In oneimplementation, each path section 202 a, 202 b includes a separatereciprocating cam structure and associated actuators. FIGS. 5A, 6 and 7illustrate one possible reciprocating cam mechanism that can be used tomove grow towers 50 across grow lines 202. Pawls or “cams” 602physically push grow towers 50 along grow line 202. Cams 602 areattached to cam channel 604 (see below) and rotate about one axis. Onthe forward stroke, the rotation is limited by the top of the camchannel 604, causing the cams 602 to push grow towers 50 forward. On thereserve or back stroke, the rotation is unconstrained, thereby allowingthe cams to ratchet over the top of the grow towers 50. In this way, thecam mechanism can stroke a relatively short distance back and forth, yetgrow towers 50 always progress forward along the entire length of a growline 202. A control system, in one implementation, controls theoperation of the reciprocating cam mechanism of each grow line 202 tomove the grow towers 50 according to a programmed growing sequence. Inbetween movement cycles, the actuator and reciprocating cam mechanismremain idle.

The pivot point of the cams 602 and the means of attachment to the camchannel 604 consists of a binding post 606 and a hex head bolt 608;alternatively, detent clevis pins may be used. The hex head bolt 608 ispositioned on the inner side of the cam channel 604 where there is notool access in the axial direction. Being a hex head, it can be accessedradially with a wrench for removal. Given the large number of camsneeded for a full-scale farm, a high-volume manufacturing process suchas injection molding is suitable. ABS is suitable material given itsstiffness and relatively low cost. All the cams 602 for a correspondinggrow line 202 are attached to the cam channel 604. When connected to anactuator, this common beam structure allows all cams 602 to stroke backand forth in unison. The structure of the cam channel 604, in oneimplementation, is a downward facing u-channel constructed from sheetmetal. Holes in the downward facing walls of cam channel 604 providemounting points for cams 602 using binding posts 606.

Holes of the cam channel 604, in one implementation, are spaced at 12.7mm intervals. Therefore, cams 602 can be spaced relative to one anotherat any integer multiple of 12.7 mm, allowing for variable grow towerspacing with only one cam channel. The base of the cam channel 604limits rotation of the cams during the forward stroke. All degrees offreedom of the cam channel 604, except for translation in the axialdirection, are constrained by linear guide carriages 610 (describedbelow) which mount to the base of the cam channel 604 and ride in thet-slot 1004 of the grow line 202. Cam channel 604 may be assembled fromseparately formed sections, such as sections in 6-meter lengths. Longersections reduce the number of junctions but may significantly increaseshipping costs. Thermal expansion is generally not a concern because thecam channel is only fixed at the end connected to the actuator. Giventhe simple profile, thin wall thickness, and long length needed, sheetmetal rolling is a suitable manufacturing process for the cam channel.Galvanized steel is a suitable material for this application.

Linear guide carriages 610 are bolted to the base of the cam channels604 and ride within the t-slots 1004 of the grow lines 202. In someimplementations, one carriage 610 is used per 6-meter section of camchannel. Carriages 610 may be injection molded plastic for low frictionand wear resistance. Bolts attach the carriages 610 to the cam channel604 by threading into over molded threaded inserts. If select cams 602are removed, these bolts are accessible so that a section of cam channel604 can be detached from the carriage and removed.

Sections of cam channel 604 are joined together with pairs of connectors616 at each joint; alternatively, detent clevis pins may be used.Connectors 616 may be galvanized steel bars with machined holes at 20 mmspacing (the same hole spacing as the cam channel 604). Shoulder bolts618 pass through holes in the outer connector, through the cam channel604, and thread into holes in the inner connector. If the shoulder boltsfall in the same position as a cam 602, they can be used in place of abinding post. The heads of the shoulder bolts 618 are accessible so thatconnectors and sections of cam channel can be removed.

In one implementation, cam channel 604 attaches to a linear actuator,which operates in a forward and a back stroke. A suitable linearactuator may be the T13-B4010MS053-62 actuator offered by Thomson, Inc.of Redford, Virginia; however, the reciprocating cam mechanism describedherein can be operated with a variety of different actuators. The linearactuator may be attached to cam channel 604 at the off-loading end of agrow line 202, rather than the on-boarding end. In such a configuration,cam channel 604 is under tension when loaded by the towers 50 during aforward stroke of the actuator (which pulls the cam channel 604) whichreduces risks of buckling. FIG. 7A illustrates operation of thereciprocating cam mechanism according to one implementation of theinvention. In step A, the linear actuator has completed a full backstroke; as FIG. 7A illustrates, one or more cams 602 may ratchet overthe hooks 52 of a grow tower 50. Step B of FIG. 7A illustrates theposition of cam channel 604 and cams 602 at the end of a forward stroke.During the forward stroke, cams 602 engage corresponding grow towers 50and move them in the forward direction along grow line 202 as shown.Step C of FIG. 7A illustrates how a new grow tower 50 (Tower 0) may beinserted onto a grow line 202 and how the last tower (Tower 9) may beremoved. Step D illustrates how cams 602 ratchet over the grow towers 50during a back stroke, in the same manner as Step A. The basic principleof this reciprocating cam mechanism is that reciprocating motion from arelatively short stroke of the actuator transports towers 50 in onedirection along the entire length of the grow line 202. Morespecifically, on the forward stroke, all grow towers 50 on a grow line202 are pushed forward one position. On the back stroke, the cams 602ratchet over an adjacent tower one position back; the grow towers remainin the same location. As shown, when a grow line 202 is full, a new growtower may be loaded and a last tower unloaded after each forward strokeof the linear actuator. In some implementations, the top portion of thehook 52 (the portion on which the cams push), is slightly narrower thanthe width of a grow tower 50. As a result, cams 602 can still engagewith the hooks 52 when grow towers 50 are spaced immediately adjacent toeach other. FIG. 7A shows 9 grow towers for didactic purposes. A growline 202 can be configured to be quite long (for example, 40 meters)allowing for a much greater number of towers 50 on a grow line 202 (suchas 400-450). Other implementations are possible. For example, theminimum tower spacing can be set equal to or slightly greater than twotimes the side-to-side distance of a grow tower 50 to allow more thanone grow tower 50 to be loaded onto a grow line 202 in each cycle.

Still further, as shown in FIG. 7A, the spacing of cams 602 along thecam channel 604 can be arranged to effect one-dimensional plant indexingalong the grow line 202. In other words, the cams 602 of thereciprocating cam mechanism can be configured such that spacing betweentowers 50 increases as they travel along a grow line 202. For example,spacing between cams 602 may gradually increase from a minimum spacingat the beginning of a grow line to a maximum spacing at the end of thegrow line 202. This may be useful for spacing plants apart as they growto increase light interception and provide spacing, and, throughvariable spacing or indexing, increasing efficient usage of the growthchamber 20 and associated components, such as lighting. In oneimplementation, the forward and back stroke distance of the linearactuator is equal to (or slightly greater than) the maximum towerspacing. During the back stroke of the linear actuator, cams 602 at thebeginning of a grow line 202 may ratchet and overshoot a grow tower 50.On the forward stroke, such cams 602 may travel respective distancesbefore engaging a tower, whereas cams located further along the growline 202 may travel shorter distances before engaging a tower or engagesubstantially immediately. In such an arrangement, the maximum towerspacing cannot be two times greater than the minimum tower spacing;otherwise, a cam 602 may ratchet over and engaging two or more growtowers 50. If greater maximum tower spacing is desired, an expansionjoint may be used, as illustrated in FIG. 7B. An expansion joint allowsthe leading section of the cam channel 604 to begin traveling before thetrailing end of the cam channel 604, thereby achieving a long stroke. Inparticular, as FIG. 7B shows, expansion joint 710 may attach to sections604 a and 604 b of cam channel 604. In the initial position (702), theexpansion joint 710 is collapsed. At the beginning of a forward stroke(704), the leading section 604 a of cam channel 604 moves forward (asthe actuator pulls on cam channel 604), while the trailing section 604 bremains stationary. Once the bolt bottoms out on the expansion joint 710(706), the trailing section 604 of cam channel 604 begins to moveforward as well. On the back stroke (708), the expansion joint 710collapses to its initial position.

Other implementations for moving vertical grow towers 50 may beemployed. For example, a lead screw mechanism may be employed. In suchan implementation, the threads of the lead screw engage hooks 52disposed on grow line 202 and move grow towers 50 as the shaft rotates.The pitch of the thread may be varied to achieve one-dimensional plantindexing. In another implementation, a belt conveyor include paddlesalong the belt may be employed to move grow towers 50 along a grow line202. In such an implementation, a series of belt conveyors arrangedalong a grow line 202, where each belt conveyor includes a differentspacing distance among the paddles to achieve one-dimensional plantindexing. In yet other implementations, a power-and-free conveyor may beemployed to move grow towers 50 along a grow line 202. Still further,although the grow line 202 illustrated in the various figures ishorizontal to the ground, the grow line 202 may be sloped at a slightangle, either downwardly or upwardly relative to the direction of towertravel.

Still further, while the grow line 202 described above operates toconvey grow towers in a single direction, the grow line 202 may beconfigured to include multiple sections, where each section is orientedin a different direction. For example, two sections may be perpendicularto each other. In other implementations, the grow line 202 may have au-shaped travel path where two sections may run parallel to each other,but have opposite directions of travel. In such an implementation, areturn transfer mechanism can transfer grow towers 50 from the end ofthe first path to the beginning of the second path. In oneimplementation, for example, pneumatic actuators can be employed to movea carriage similar to carriage 1202 above along a track back and forthas required to perform the transfer operations described herein. Otherreturn transfer mechanisms can also be employed. For example, the returntransfer mechanism may comprise a swinging arm that engages a grow tower50 at the offload end of first path section and swings 180 degrees totranslate the grow tower 50 to the onload end of the return pathsection. In another implementation, the return transfer mechanism mayinclude a semi-circular track section spanning the first and second pathsections of grow line 202. In such an implementation, a wheel includingpaddles can push grow towers around the semi-circular track section witheach movement cycle of the grow line 202.

Irrigation & Aqueous Nutrient Supply

FIG. 8 illustrates how an irrigation line 802 may be attached to growline 202 to supply an aqueous nutrient solution to crops disposed ingrow towers 50 as they translate through the vertical tower conveyancesystem 200. Irrigation line 802, in one implementation, is a pressurizedline with spaced-apart holes disposed at the expected locations of thetowers 50 as they advance along grow line 202 with each movement cycle.For example, the irrigation line 802 may be a PVC pipe having an innerdiameter of 1.5 inches and holes having diameters of 0.125 inches. Theirrigation line 802 may be approximately 40 meters in length spanningthe entire length of a grow line 202. To ensure adequate pressure acrossthe entire line, irrigation line 802 may be broken into shortersections, each connected to a manifold, so that pressure drop isreduced.

As FIG. 8 shows, a funnel structure 902 collects aqueous nutrientsolution from irrigation line 802 and distributes the aqueous nutrientsolution to the cavity(ies) 54 a, 54 b of the grow tower 50 as discussedin more detail below. FIGS. 9 and 11A illustrate that the funnelstructure 902 may be integrated into hook 52. For example, the funnelstructure 902 may include a collector 910, first and second passageways912 and first and second slots 920. As FIG. 9 illustrates, thegroove-engaging member 58 of the hook may disposed at a centerline ofthe overall hook structure. The funnel structure 902 may include flangesections 906 extending downwardly opposite the collector 910 and onopposing sides of the centerline. The outlets of the first and secondpassageways are oriented substantially adjacent to and at opposing sidesof the flange sections 906, as shown. Flange sections 906 register withcentral wall 56 of grow tower 50 to center the hook 52 and providesadditional sites to adhere or otherwise attach hook 52 to grow tower 50.In other words, when hook 52 is inserted into the top of grow tower 50,central wall 56 is disposed between flange sections 906. In theimplementation shown, collector 910 extends laterally from the main body53 of hook 52.

As FIG. 11B shows, funnel structure 902 includes a collector 910 thatcollects nutrient fluid and distributes the fluid evenly to the innercavities 54 a and 54 b of tower through passageways 912. Passageways 912are configured to distribute aqueous nutrient solution near the centralwall 56 and to the center back of each cavity 54 a, 54 b over the endsof the plug holders 158 and where the roots of a planted crop areexpected. As FIG. 11C illustrates, in one implementation, the funnelstructure 902 includes slots 920 that promote the even distribution ofnutrient fluid to both passageways 912. For nutrient fluid to reachpassageways 912, it must flow through one of the slots 920. Each slot920 may have a V-like configuration where the width of the slot openingincreases as it extends from the substantially flat bottom surface 922of collector 910. For example, each slot 920 may have a width of 1millimeter at the bottom surface 922. The width of slot 920 may increaseto 5 millimeters over a height of 25 millimeters. The configuration ofthe slots 920 causes nutrient fluid supplied at a sufficient flow rateby irrigation line 802 to accumulate in collector 910, as opposed toflowing directly to a particular passageway 912, and flow through slots920 to promote even distribution of nutrient fluid to both passageways912.

In operation, irrigation line 802 provides aqueous nutrient solution tofunnel structure 902 that even distributes the water to respectivecavities 54 a, 54 b of grow tower 50. The aqueous nutrient solutionsupplied from the funnel structure 902 irrigates crops contained inrespective plug containers 158 as it trickles down. In oneimplementation, a gutter disposed under each grow line 202 collectsexcess water from the grow towers 50 for recycling.

Other implementations are possible. For example, the funnel structuremay be configured with two separate collectors that operate separatelyto distribute aqueous nutrient solution to a corresponding cavity 54 a,54 b of a grow tower 50. In such a configuration, the irrigation supplyline can be configured with one hole for each collector. In otherimplementations, the towers may only include a single cavity and includeplug containers only on a single face 101 of the towers. Such aconfiguration still calls for a use of a funnel structure that directsaqueous nutrient solution to a desired portion of the tower cavity, butobviates the need for separate collectors or other structuresfacilitating even distribution.

Automated Pickup & Laydown Stations

As discussed above, the stations of central processing system 30 operateon grow towers 50 in a horizontal orientation, while the vertical towerconveyance system 200 conveys grow towers in the growth environment 20in a vertical orientation. In one implementation, an automated pickupstation 43, and associated control logic, may be operative to releasablygrasp a horizontal grow tower from a loading location, rotate the towerto a vertical orientation and attach the tower to a transfer station forinsertion into a selected grow line 202 of the growth environment 20. Onthe other end of growth environment 20, automated laydown station 41,and associated control logic, may be operative to releasably grasp andmove a vertically-oriented grow tower 50 from a buffer location, rotatethe grow tower 50 to a horizontal orientation and place it on aconveyance system for processing by one or more stations of centralprocessing system 30. For example, automated laydown station 41 mayplace grow towers 50 on a conveyance system for loading into harvesterstation 32. The automated laydown station 41 and pickup station 43 mayeach comprise a six-degrees of freedom (six axes) robotic arm, such as aFANUC robot. The stations 41 and 43 may also include end effectors forreleasably grasping grow towers 50 at opposing ends.

FIG. 14 illustrates an automated laydown station 41 according to oneimplementation of the invention. As shown, automated laydown station 41includes robot 1402 and end effector 1450. Unload transfer conveyancemechanism 45, which may be a power and free conveyor, delivers growtowers 50 from growth environment 20. In one implementation, the buffertrack section 1406 of unload transfer conveyance mechanism 45 extendsthrough a vertical slot 1408 in growth environment 20, allowingmechanism 45 to convey grow towers 50 attached to carriages 1202 outsideof growth environment 20 and towards pick location 1404. Unload transferconveyance mechanism 45 may use a controlled stop blade to stop thecarriage 1202 at the pick location 1404. The unload transfer conveyancemechanism 45 may include an anti-roll back mechanism, bounding thecarriage 1202 between the stop blade and the anti-roll back mechanism.

As FIG. 12 illustrates, receiver 1204 may be attached to a swivelmechanism 1210 allowing rotation of grow towers 50 when attached tocarriages 1202 for closer buffering in unload transfer conveyancemechanism 45 and/or to facilitate the correct orientation for loading orunloading grow towers 50. In some implementations, for the laydownlocation and pick location 1404, grow towers 50 may be oriented suchthat hook 52 faces away from the automated laydown and pickup stations41, 43 for ease of transferring towers on/off the swiveled carriagereceiver 1204. Hook 52 may rest in a groove in the receiver 1204 ofcarriage 1202. Receiver 1204 may also have a latch 1206 which closesdown on either side of the grow tower 50 to prevent a grow tower 50 fromsliding off during acceleration or deceleration associated with transferconveyance.

FIG. 16 illustrates an end effector 1450, according to oneimplementation of the invention, that provides a pneumatic grippingsolution for releasably grasping a grow tower 50 at opposing ends. Endeffector 1450 may include a beam 1602 and a mounting plate 1610 forattachment to a robot, such as robotic arm 1402. A top gripper assembly1604 and a bottom gripper assembly 1606 are attached to opposite ends ofbeam 1602. End effector 1450 may also include support arms 1608 tosupport a grow tower 50 when held in a horizontal orientation. Forexample, support arms 1608 extending from a central section of beam 1602mitigate tower deflection. Support arms 1608 may be spaced ˜1.6 metersfrom either gripper assembly 1604, 1606, and may be nominally 30 mmoffset from a tower face, allowing 30 mm of tower deflection before thesupport arms 1608 catch the tower.

Bottom gripper assembly 1606, as shown in FIGS. 17A and 17B, may includeplates 1702 extending perpendicularly from an end of beam 1602 and eachhaving a cut-out section 1704 defining arms 1708 a and 1708 b. Apneumatic cylinder mechanism 1706, such as a guided pneumatic cylindersold by SMC Pneumatics under the designation MGPM40-40Z, attaches toarms 1708 a of plates 1702. Arms 1708 b may include projections 1712that engage groove 58 b of grow tower 50 when grasped therein to locatethe grow tower 50 in the gripper assembly 1606 and/or to preventslippage. The gripper assembly 1606, in the implementation shown,operates like a lobster claw—i.e., one side of the gripper (thepneumatic cylinder mechanism 1706) moves, while the other side (arms1708 b) remain static. On the static side of the gripper assembly 1606,the pneumatic cylinder mechanism 1706 drives the grow tower 50 into thearms 1708, registering the tower 50 with projections 1712. Frictionbetween a grow tower 50 and arms 1708 b and pneumatic cylinder mechanism1706 holds the tower 50 in place during operation of an automatedlaydown or pick up station 41, 43. To grasp a grow tower 50, thepneumatic cylinder mechanism 1706 may extend. In such an implementation,pneumatic cylinder mechanism 1706 is retracted to a release positionduring a transfer operation involving the grow towers 50. In oneimplementation, the solenoid of pneumatic cylinder mechanism 1706 iscenter-closed in that, whether extended or retracted, the valve lockseven if air pressure is lost. In such an implementation, loss of airpressure will not cause a grow tower 50 to fall out of end effector 1450while the pneumatic cylinder mechanism 1706 is extended.

Top gripper assembly 1604, in one implementation, is essentially amirror image of bottom gripper assembly 1606, as it includes the samecomponents and operates in the same manner described above. Catch plate1718, in one implementation, may attach only to bottom gripper assembly1606. Catch plate 1718 may act as a safety catch in case the gripperassemblies fail or the grow tower 50 slips. Other implementations arepossible. For example, the gripper assemblies may be parallel gripperassemblies where both opposing arms of each gripper move when actuatedto grasp a grow tower 50.

Robot 1402 may be a 6-axis robotic arm including a base, a lower armattached to the base, an upper arm attached to the lower arm, and awrist mechanism disposed between the end of the upper arm and an endeffector 1450. For example, robot 1402 may 1) rotate about its base; 2)rotate a lower arm to extend forward and backward; 3) rotate an upperarm, relative to the lower arm, upward and downward; 4) rotate the upperarm and attached wrist mechanism in a circular motion; 5) tilt a wristmechanism attached to the end of the upper arm up and down; and/or 6)rotate the wrist mechanism clockwise or counter-clockwise. However,modifications to end effector 1450 (and/or other elements, such asconveyance mechanisms and the like) may permit different types of robotsand mechanisms, as well as use of robots with fewer axes of movement. AsFIG. 18 illustrates, robot 1402 may be floor mounted and installed on apedestal. Inputs to the robot 1402 may include power, a data connectionto a control system, and an air line connecting the pneumatic cylindermechanism 1706 to a pressurized air supply. On pneumatic cylindermechanism 1706, sensors may be used to detect when the cylinder is inits open state or its closed state. The control system may execute oneor more programs or sub-routines to control operation of the robot 1402to effect conveyance of grow towers 50 from growth environment 20 tocentral processing system 20.

When a grow tower 50 accelerates/decelerates in unload transferconveyance mechanism 45, the grow tower 50 may swing slightly. FIGS. 18and 19 illustrate a tower constraining mechanism 1902 to stop possibleswinging, and to accurately locate, a grow tower 50 during a laydownoperation of automated laydown station 41. In the implementation shown,mechanism 1902 is a floor-mounted unit that includes a guided pneumaticcylinder 1904 and a bracket assembly including a guide plate 1906 thatguides a tower 50 and a bracket arm 1908 that catches the bottom of thegrow tower 50, holding it at a slight angle to better enableregistration of the grow tower 50 to the bottom gripper assembly 1606. Acontrol system may control operation of mechanism 1902 to engage thebottom of a grow tower 50, thereby holding it in place for gripperassembly 1606.

The end state of the laydown operation is to have a grow tower 50 layingon the projections 2004 of the harvester infeed conveyor 1420, ascentered as possible. In one implementation, a grow tower 50 is orientedsuch that hook 52 points towards harvester station 32 and, inimplementations having hinged side walls, and hinge side down. Thefollowing summarizes the decisional steps that a controller for robot1402 may execute during a laydown operation, according to one possibleimplementation of the invention.

Laydown Procedure Description

The Main program for the robot controller may work as follows:

-   -   A control system associated with central processing system 30        may activate the robot controller's Main program.    -   Within the Main program, the robot controller may check if robot        1402 is in its home position.    -   If robot 1402 is not in its home position, it enters its Home        program to move to the home position.    -   The Main program then calls the reset I/O program to reset all        the I/O parameters on robot 1402 to default values.    -   Next, the Main program runs the handshake program with the        central processing controller to make sure a grow tower 50 is        present at the pickup location 1404 and ready to be picked up.    -   The Main program may run an enter zone program to indicate it is        about to enter the transfer conveyance zone.    -   The Main program may run a Pick Tower program to grasp a grow        tower 50 and lift it off of carriage 1202.    -   The Main program may then call the exit zone program to indicate        it has left the transfer conveyance zone.    -   Next the Main program runs the handshake program with the        central processing controller to check whether the harvester        infeed conveyor 1420 is clear and in position to receive a grow        tower 50.    -   The Main program may then run the enter zone program to indicate        it is about to enter the harvester infeed conveyor zone.    -   The Main program runs a Place Tower program to move and place        the picked tower onto the infeed conveyor 1420.    -   The Main program then calls an exit zone program to indicate it        has left the harvester infeed conveyor zone.    -   The Home program may then run to return robot 1402 to its home        position.    -   Lastly, the Main program may run the handshake program with the        central processing controller to indicate robot 1402 has        returned to its home position and is ready to pick the next grow        tower 50.

The Pick Tower program may work as follows:

-   -   Robot 1402 checks to make sure the grippers 1604, 1606 are in        the open position. If the grippers are not open, robot 1402 will        throw an alarm.    -   Robot 1402 may then begin to move straight ahead which will push        the end effector 1450 into the tower face so that the grow tower        is fully seated against the back wall of the grippers 1604,        1606.    -   Robot 1402 may then move sideways to push the rigid fingers 1712        against the tower walls to engage groove 58 b.    -   Robot 1402 may activate robot outputs to close the grippers        1604, 1606.    -   Robot 1402 may wait until sensors indicate that the grippers        1604, 1606 are closed. If robot 1402 waits too long, robot 1402        may throw an alarm.    -   Once grip is confirmed, robot 1402 may then move vertically to        lift grow tower 50 off of the receiver 1204.    -   Next, robot 1402 may then pull back away from pick location        1404.

The Place Tower program may work as follows:

-   -   Robot 1402 may move through two waypoints that act as        intermediary points to properly align grow tower 50 during the        motion.    -   Robot 1402 continues on to position end effector 1450 and grow        tower 50 just above the center of the harvester in-feed conveyor        1450, such that the tower is in the correct orientation (e.g.,        hinge down on the rigid fingers, hook 52 towards harvester        station 32).    -   Once the conveyor position is confirmed, robot 1402 may then        activate the outputs to open grippers 1604, 1606 so that grow        tower 50 is just resting on the rigid fingers 1712 and support        arms 1608.    -   Robot 1402 may wait until the sensors indicate that grippers        1604, 1606 have opened. If robot 1402 waits too long, robot 1402        may throw an alarm.    -   After grippers 1604, 1606 are released, robot 1402 may then move        vertically down. On the way down the projections 2004 of        harvester infeed conveyor 1420 take the weight of grow tower 50        and the rigid fingers 1712 and support arms 1608 of end effector        1450 end up under grow tower and not in contact.    -   Lastly, robot 1402 may then pull end effector 1450 towards robot        1402, away from harvester infeed conveyor 1420, and slides rigid        fingers 1712 of end effector 1450 out from under grow tower 50.

FIGS. 15A and 15B illustrate an automated pickup station 43 according toone implementation of the invention. As shown, automated pickup station43 includes robot 1502 and pickup conveyor 1504. Similar to automatedlaydown station 41, robot 1502 includes end effector 1550 for releasablygrasping grow towers 50. In one implementation, end effector 1550 issubstantially the same as end effector 1450 attached to robot 1402 ofautomated laydown station 41. In one implementation, end effector 1550may omit support arms 1608. As described herein, robot 1502, using endeffector 1550, may grasp a grow tower 50 resting on pickup conveyor1504, rotate the grow tower 50 to a vertical orientation and attach thegrow tower 50 to a carriage 1202 of loading transfer conveyancemechanism 47. As discussed above, loading transfer conveyance mechanism47, which may include be a power and free conveyor, delivers grow towers50 to growth environment 20. In one implementation, the buffer tracksection 1522 of loading transfer conveyance mechanism 47 extends througha vertical slot in growth environment 20, allowing mechanism 47 toconvey grow towers 50 attached to carriages 1202 into growth environment20 from stop location 1520. Loading transfer conveyance mechanism 47 mayuse a controlled stop blade to stop the carriage 1202 at the stoplocation 1520. The loading transfer conveyance mechanism 47 may includean anti-roll back mechanism, bounding the carriage 1202 between the stopblade and the anti-roll back mechanism.

The following summarizes the decisional steps that a controller forrobot 1502 may execute during a pickup operation, according to onepossible implementation of the invention.

Pickup Procedure Description

The Main program for the robot controller may work as follows for robot1502:

-   -   The central processing controller may activate the Main program.    -   Within the Main program, robot 1502 controller will check if        robot 1502 is in its home position.    -   If robot 1502 is not in its home position, robot 1502 will enter        its home program to move to the home position of the robot 1502.    -   The Main program may then call the reset 10 program to reset IO        values on robot 1502 to their default values.    -   Next, the Main program may run the handshake program with the        central processing controller to request a decision code        indicating which station (pickup conveyor 1504 or the        transplanter transfer conveyor 2111) has a grow tower 50 ready        for pickup.    -   The Main program may run the enter zone program to indicate it        is about to enter the pickup location based on the decision code        from above.    -   The Main program may then run the Pick Tower program to grab a        tower and lift it from the specified conveyor based on the        decision code from above.    -   The Main program may then call the exit zone program to indicate        it has left the pickup location based on the decision code from        above.    -   Next the Main program may run the handshake program with the        central processing controller to check whether loading transfer        conveyance mechanism 47 has a carriage 1202 in place and is        ready to receive a grow tower 50.    -   The Main program may then run the enter zone program to indicate        it is about to enter the transfer conveyance zone.    -   The Main program may run the Place Tower program to move and        place the picked grow tower onto receiver 1204 of carriage 1202.    -   The Main program may then call the exit zone program to indicate        it has left the transfer conveyance zone.    -   Robot 1502 then run the go to Home program to return robot 1502        to its home position.    -   Lastly, the Main program may run the handshake program with the        central processing controller to indicate robot 1502 has        returned to its home position and is ready to pick up the next        grow tower 50.

The Pick Tower program may work as follows:

-   -   Robot 1502 may check to make sure the grippers are in the open        position. If they are not open, robot 1502 will throw an alarm.    -   If the decision location resolves to the transplanter transfer        conveyor 2111, robot 1502 will move vertically to align with the        grow tower 50 on the transplanter transfer conveyor 2111.    -   Robot 1502 may then begin to move straight ahead to push end        effector 1550 into the tower face so that the grow tower 50 is        fully seated against the back wall of the grippers.    -   Robot 1502 moves upwards to lift grow tower 50 to rest the tower        on the rigid fingers of the grippers.    -   Robot 1502 may then activate robot 1502 outputs to close the        grippers.    -   Robot 1502 may wait until the sensors indicate that the grippers        are closed. If robot 1502 waits too long, robot 1502 will throw        an alarm.    -   Once grip is confirmed, robot 1502 moves vertically and pulls        back away from the pickup conveyor 1504 or the transplanter        transfer conveyor 2111.

The Place Tower program may work as follows:

-   -   Robot 1502 may move through two waypoints that act as        intermediary points to properly align grow tower 50 during the        motion.    -   Robot 1502 continues on to position end effector 1550 and grow        tower 50 in line with receiver 1204 of carriage 1202.    -   Robot 1502 may then move forward to point 1520 which will        position the tower hook 52 above the channel in receiver 1204.    -   Robot 1502 may then move down which will position the tower hook        52 to be slightly above (e.g., ˜10 millimeters) above the        channel of receiver 1204.    -   Robot 1502 may activate the outputs to open the grippers so that        the hook 52 of tower 50 falls into the channel of receiver 1204.    -   Robot 1502 may wait until the sensors indicate that the grippers        have opened. If robot 1502 waits too long, robot 1502 will throw        an alarm.    -   Once the grippers are released, robot 1502 may move straight        back away from the tower.

Central Processing System

As discussed above, central processing system 30 may include harvesterstation 32, washing station 34 and transplanter station 36. Centralprocessing system 30 may also include one or more conveyors to transfertowers to or from a given station. For example, central processingsystem 30 may include harvester outfeed conveyor 2102, washer infeedconveyor 2104, washer outfeed conveyor 2106, transplanter infeedconveyor 2108, and transplanter outfeed conveyor 2110. These conveyorscan be belt or roller conveyors adapted to convey grow towers 50 layinghorizontally thereon. As described herein, central processing system 30may also include one or more sensors for identifying grow towers 50 andone or more controllers for coordinating and controlling the operationof various stations and conveyors.

FIG. 21A illustrates an example processing pathway for centralprocessing system 30. In one implementation, the stations of centralprocessing system 30 are arranged in a substantially linear mannerrunning parallel to grow lines 202 of growth environment. In otherimplementations, the grow lines 202 may run perpendicular to theprocessing path flow of central processing system 30. As discussedabove, a robotic picking station 41 may lower a grow tower 50 withmature crops onto a harvester infeed conveyor 1420, which conveys thegrow tower 50 to harvester station 32. FIG. 20 illustrates a harvesterinfeed conveyor 1420 according to one implementation of the invention.Harvester infeed conveyor 1420 may be a belt conveyor having a belt 2002including projections 2004 extending outwardly from belt 2002.Projections 2004 provide for a gap between belt 2002 and crops extendingfrom grow tower 50, helping to avoid or reduce damage to the crops. Inone implementation, the size the projections 2004 can be variedcyclically at lengths of grow tower 50. For example, projection 2004 amay be configured to engage the end of grow tower 50; top projection2004 d may engage the opposite end of grow tower 50; and middleprojections 2004 b, c may be positioned to contact grow tower 50 at alateral face where the length of projections 2004 b, c are lower andengage grow tower 50 when the tower deflects beyond a threshold amount.The length of belt 2002, as shown in FIG. 20 can be configured toprovide for two movement cycles for a grow tower 50 for each full travelcycle of the belt 2002. In other implementations, however, allprojections 2004 are uniform in length.

As FIG. 21A shows, harvester outfeed conveyor 2102 conveys grow towers50 that are processed from harvester station 32. In the implementationshown, central processing system 30 is configured to handle two types ofgrow towers: “cut-again” and “final cut.” As used herein, a “cut-again”tower refers to a grow tower 50 that has been processed by harvesterstation 32 (i.e., the crops have been harvested from the plants growingin the grow tower 50, but the root structure of the plant(s) remain inplace) and is to be re-inserted in growth environment 20 for crops togrow again. As used herein, a “final cut” tower refers to a grow tower50 where the crops are harvested and where the grow tower 50 is to becleared of root structure and growth medium and re-planted. Cut-againand final cut grow towers 50 may take different processing paths throughcentral processing system 30. To facilitate routing of grow towers 50,central processing system 30 includes sensors (e.g., RFID, barcode, orinfrared) at various locations to track grow towers 50. Control logicimplemented by a controller of central processing system 30 trackswhether a given grow tower 50 is a cut-again or final cut grow tower andcauses the various conveyors to route such grow towers accordingly. Forexample, sensors may be located at pick position 1404 and/or harvesterinfeed conveyor 1420, as well as at other locations. The variousconveyors described herein can be controlled to route identified growtowers 50 along different processing paths of central processing system30. As shown in FIG. 21A, a cut-again conveyor 2112 transports acut-again grow tower 50 toward the work envelope of automated pickupstation 43 for insertion into grow environment 20. Cut-again conveyor2112 may consist of either a single accumulating conveyor or a series ofconveyors. Cut-again conveyor 2112 may convey a grow tower 50 to pickupconveyor 1504. In one implementation, pickup conveyor 1504 is configuredto accommodate end effector 1450 of automated pickup station 43 thatreaches under grow tower 50. Methods of accommodating the end effector1450 include either using a conveyor section that is shorter than growtower 50 or using a conveyor angled at both ends as shown in FIG. 22.

Final cut grow towers 50, on the other hand, travel through harvesterstation 32, washing station 34 and transplanter 36 before reenteringgrowth environment 20. With reference to FIG. 21A, a harvested growtower 50 may be transferred from harvester outfeed conveyor 2102 to awasher transfer conveyor 2103. The washer transfer conveyor 2103 movesthe grow tower onto washer infeed conveyor 2104, which feeds grow tower50 to washing station 34. In one implementation, pneumatic slides maypush a grow tower 50 from harvester outfeed conveyor 2102 to washertransfer conveyor 2103. Washer transfer conveyor 2103 may be athree-strand conveyor that transfers the tow to washer infeed conveyor2104. Additional pusher cylinders may push the grow tower 50 off washertransfer conveyor 2103 and onto washer infeed conveyor 2104. A growtower 50 exits washing station 34 on washer outfeed conveyor 2106 and,by way of a push mechanism, is transferred to transplanter infeedconveyor 2108. The cleaned grow tower 50 is then processed intransplanter station 36, which inserts seedlings into grow sites 53 ofthe grow tower. Transplanter outfeed conveyor 2110 transfers the growtower 50 to final transfer conveyor 2111, which conveys the grow tower50 to the work envelope of automated pickup station 43.

In the implementation shown in FIG. 23A, harvester station 34 comprisescrop harvester machine 2302 and bin conveyor 2304. Harvester machine2302 may include a rigid frame to which various components, such ascutters and feed assemblies, are mounted. Harvester machine 2302, in oneimplementation, includes its own feeder mechanism that engages a growtower 50 and feeds it through the machine. In one implementation,harvester machine 2302 engages a grow tower on the faces that do notinclude grow sites 53 and may employ a mechanism that registers withgrooves 58 a, 58 b to accurately locate the grow tower and grow sites 53relative to harvesting blades or other actuators. In one implementation,harvester machine 2302 includes a first set of rotating blades that areoriented near a first face 101 of a grow tower 50 and a second set ofrotating blades on an opposing face 101 of the grow tower 50. As thegrow tower 50 is fed through the harvester machine 2302, crop extendingfrom the grow sites 53 is cut or otherwise removed, where it falls intoa bin placed under harvester machine 2302 by bin conveyor 2304.Harvester machine 2302 may include a grouping mechanism, such as aphysical or air grouper, to group the crops at a grow site 53 away fromthe face plates 101 of the grow towers 50 in order to facilitate theharvesting process. Bin conveyor 2304 may be a u-shaped conveyor thattransports empty bins the harvester station 34 and filled bins fromharvester station 32. In one implementation, a bin can be sized to carryat least one load of crop harvested from a single grow tower 50 . Insuch an implementation, a new bin is moved in place for each grow towerthat is harvested. In one implementation, grow towers 50 enter theharvester machine 2302 full of mature plants and leave the harvestermachine 2302 with remaining stalks and soil plugs to be sent to the nextprocessing station.

FIG. 23B is a top view of an example harvester machine 2302. Circularblades 2306 extending from a rotary drive system 2308 harvest plants onopposing faces 101 a of grow towers 50. In one implementation, rotarydrive system 2308 is mounted to a linear drive system 2310 to move thecircular blades 2306 closer to and farther away from the opposing faces101 a of the grow towers 50 to optimize cut height for different typesof plants. In one implementation, each rotary drive system 2308 has anupper circular blade and a lower circular blade (and associated motors)that intersect at the central axis of the grow sites of the grow towers50. Harvester machine 2302 may also include an alignment track 2320 thatincludes a set of rollers that engage groove 58 of the grow tower 50 asit is fed through the machine. Harvester machine 2302 may also include atower drive system that feeds grow towers through the machine at aconstant rate. In one implementation, the tower drive system includes atwo drive wheel and motor assemblies located at opposite ends ofharvester machine 2302. Each drive wheel and motor assembly may includea friction drive roller on the bottom and a pneumatically actuatedalignment wheel on the top. As FIG. 23C illustrates, harvester machine2302 may also include a gathering chute 2330 that collects harvestedcrops cut by blades 2306 as it falls and guides it into bins locatedunder the machine 2302.

Washing station 34 may employ a variety of mechanisms to clean cropdebris (such as roots and base or stem structures) from grow towers 50.To clean a grow tower 50, washing station 34 may employ pressurizedwater systems, pressurized air systems, mechanical means (such asscrubbers, scrub wheels, scrapers, etc.), or any combination of theforegoing systems. In implementations that use hinged grow towers (suchas those discussed above), the washing station 34 may include aplurality of substations including a substation to open the front faces101 of grow towers 50 prior to one or more cleaning operations, and asecond substation to close the front faces 101 of grow towers after oneor more cleaning operations. U.S. application Ser. No. 16/376,878 filedon Apr. 5, 2019, which is incorporated by reference herein for allpurposes, discloses a substation for opening a hinged grow tower forwashing or other operations. U.S. application Ser. No. 16/397,142 filedon Apr. 29, 2019, which is incorporated by reference herein for allpurposes, discloses a substation for closing a hinged grow tower fortransplanting or other operations. U.S. application Ser. No. 16/406,536filed on May 8, 2019, which is incorporated by reference herein for allpurposes, discloses a substation for cleaning a grow tower 50.

Transplanter station 36, in one implementation, includes an automatedmechanism to inject seedlings into grow sites 53 of grow towers 50. Inone implementation, the transplanter station 36 receives plug trayscontaining seedlings to be transplanted into the grow sites 53. In oneimplementation, transplanter station 36 includes a robotic arm and anend effector that includes one or more gripper or picking heads thatgrasps root-bound plugs from a plug tray and inserts them into growsites 53 of grow tower 53. For implementations where grow sites 53extend along a single face of a grow tower, the grow tower may beoriented such that the single face faces upwardly. For implementationswhere grow sites 53 extend along opposing faces of a grow tower 50, thegrow tower 50 may be oriented such that the opposing faces having thegrow sites face laterally. FIGS. 24A and 24B illustrate an exampletransplanter station. Transplanter station 36 may include a plug trayconveyor 2430 that positions plug trays 2432 in the working envelope ofa robotic arm 2410. Transplanter station 36 may also include a feedmechanism that loads a grow tower 50 into place for transplanting.Transplanter station 36 may include one or more robotic arms 2410 (suchas a six-axis robotic arm), each having an end effector 2402 that isadapted to grasp a root-bound plug from a plug tray and inject the rootbound plug into a grow site 53 of a grow tower. FIG. 24A illustrates anexample end effector 2402 that includes a base 2404 and multiple pickingheads 2406 extending from the base 2404. The picking heads 2406 are eachpivotable from a first position to a second position. In a firstposition (top illustration of FIG. 24A), a picking head 2406 extendsperpendicularly relative to the base. In the second position shown inFIG. 24A, each picking head 2406 extends at a 45-degree angle relativeto the base 2404. The 45-degree angle may be useful for injecting plugsinto the plug containers 158 of grow towers that, as discussed above,extend at a 45-degree angle. A pneumatic system may control the pivotingof the picking heads between the first position and the second position.In operation, the picking heads 2406 may be in the first position whenpicking up root-bound plugs from a plug tray, and then may be moved tothe second position prior to insertion of the plugs into plug containers158. In such an insertion operation, the robotic arm 2410 can beprogrammed to insert in a direction of motion parallel with theorientation of the plug container 158. Using the end effectorillustrated in FIG. 24A, multiple plug containers 158 may be filled in asingle operation. In addition, the robotic arm 2410 may be configured toperform the same operation at other regions on one or both sides of agrow tower 50. As FIG. 24B shows, in one implementation, several roboticassemblies, each having an end effector 2402 are used to lowerprocessing time. After all grow sites 53 are filled, the grow tower 50is ultimately conveyed to automated pickup station 43, as describedherein.

FIGS. 21B and 21C illustrate an alternative configuration for centralprocessing system 30. Central processing system 30 may additionallyinclude one or more horizontal tower buffers 2150, 2152 to accommodatefor differences in processing speed among the stations of centralprocessing system 30 and/or to achieve other goals or efficiencies. Inthe implementation shown, central processing system 30 may include afirst horizontal tower buffer 2150 disposed between harvesting station32 and washing station 34, and a second horizontal tower buffer 2152disposed between washing station 34 and transplanter station 36.

The stations of central processing system 30 may have differentprocessing speeds that may require some form of accommodation. Forexample, assume that harvester station 32 has a grow tower processingthrough-put rate of X towers per minute, and that washing station 34(with more operations to perform on each grow tower 50) may have athroughput-put rate of X/2. Horizontal tower buffer 2150 operationallydecouples the cycle time of harvester station 32 from the cycle time ofwashing station 34. In other words, horizontal tower buffer 2150functions to decouple the outfeed of harvester station 32 from theinfeed of cleaning station 34, ensuring an open location into which theharvester station 32 can eject a processed grow tower 50 and ensuringthe presence of a grow tower 50 for processing by washing station 34.Similarly, horizontal tower buffer 2152 functions to decouple theoutfeed of washing station 34 from the infeed of transplanter station36, allowing (for example) transplanter station 36 to incrementallyprocess a grow tower 50 and the washing station 34 to process growtowers 50 without considering the state of processing of transplanterstation 36.

Use of horizontal tower buffers 2150 and/or 2152 in central processingsystem 30 allows each individual station (each with its own processingtime) to begin working on grow towers 50 as needed in order to completeprocessing of a target number of towers within an overall time envelope.For example, if the processing shift is 8 hours, transplanter station 36(if it is the slowest station) could begin operating before othermachines in the shift, with the other stations starting as needed toprocess within the overall time envelope of the processing session atarget number of towers. In addition, tower buffers allow for the impactof planned and unplanned downtime events (e.g., maintenance, cleaning,station failure, etc.) for certain machines or stations to be maskedrelative to other stations.

FIG. 21D illustrates an example horizontal tower buffer 2150. In oneimplementation, horizontal tower buffer 2150 comprises an infeedconveyor 2178, a pusher mechanism 2178, a buffer space 2174, and anoutfeed conveyor 2174. The infeed conveyor 2172 and outfeed conveyor2176 may be belt or roller conveyors adapted to convey grow towers 50laying horizontally thereon. Infeed conveyor 2172 is positioned to be insubstantial alignment with the outfeed conveyance 2180 of the priorstation—in this example, harvester station 32. Outfeed conveyor 2176 ispositioned to be in substantial alignment with the infeed conveyance2182 of the next station—in this example, transplanter station 36.

In one implementation, a control system causes infeed conveyor 2172 toload a grow tower 50 into position adjacent to buffer space 2174. Pushermechanism 2178 pushes the grow tower 50 from infeed conveyor 2172 ontobuffer space 2174. In one implementation, buffer space 2174 may be aflat surface with guide rails 2175 at opposing lateral edges to containgrow towers 50. In other implementations, the buffer space 2174 mayfurther include passive or active mechanisms to facilitate transport ofgrow towers 50 from infeed conveyor 2172 to outfeed conveyor 2176. Forexample, buffer space 2174 may include an actuator that pushes or pullsan array of accumulated grow towers across a low-friction table or othersurface. In addition, the buffer space 2174 may include a conveyor withcleats to isolate individual grow towers 50. In another implementation,buffer space 2174 may include a conveyor without cleats that accumulatesgrow towers 50 against a hard stop. In another implementation, thebuffer space 2174 may include a table with physical features todiscretize tower locations and a gripper and overhead gantry assembly togrip and move grow towers.

In one implementation, buffer space 2174 includes enough space for apredetermined number of grow towers (e.g., 5-10 or more grow towers). Inoperation, pusher mechanism 2178 can operate to push a grow tower 50 agiven distance along the path from infeed conveyor 2172 to a firstposition on buffer space 2174. When pusher mechanism 2178 operates on asubsequent, second grow tower 50, the prior grow tower contacts thesecond grow tower 50 and is pushed to a second position in buffer space.Similarly, a grow tower 50 in the last position may then be pushed ontooutfeed conveyor 2176. Alternatively, horizontal tower buffer 2150 mayoptionally include a puller or other mechanism for transferring growtowers from the last position of buffer space 2174 to the outfeedconveyor 2176.

The configuration of tower buffer 2152 is substantially the same astower buffer 2150. In the implementation shown, the infeed conveyor oftower buffer 2152 is positioned to be aligned with the outfeed conveyorof washing station 34. The outfeed conveyor of tower buffer 2152 ispositioned for alignment with infeed conveyance of transplanter station36. Other implementations are possible. For example, buffer space 2174may be augmented to provide more grow tower positions for the samedistance between infeed conveyor 2172 and outfeed conveyor 2176. Forexample, buffer space 2174 may comprise a carrousel including aplurality of grow tower locations (e.g., 40 locations) that indexes byone with each cycle. In one implementation, position 1 of the carrouselcorresponds to the infeed location, while position 40 (or other lastposition) corresponds to the outfeed position. The carrousel, inoperation, would rotatably index across all positions before exiting thebuffer space 2174. In another implementation, the buffer space 2174 mayinclude a rack that provides storage for an array of grow towers 50 andan actuator (or robot) on a 1-axis or 2-axis gantry that moves towers inand out of rack locations. Still further, the buffer may be a“first-in-first-out” buffer or a “first-in-last-out” buffer. Forexample, the buffer space 2174 may comprise a vertical stack of growtowers 50 and an actuator to perform last-in-first-out bufferingoperations.

Still further, FIGS. 21E and 21F illustrate an alternative verticaltower conveyance system 46 that conveys towers into and out of growthenvironment 20. In the implementation shown, the vertical towerconveyance system 46 includes a track system that routes carriages 1202to various destinations along the system 10. As FIG. 21F illustrates,the track system may include a first pre-harvest (cut-again) verticalbuffer 2190 and a second pre-harvest (final-cut) vertical buffer 2192.As discussed above, central processing system 30 may be configured toselectively process certain grow towers 50 for so-called cut-againprocessing. FIG. 21E illustrates that the system 10 may also include asecond automated pickup station 42. In particular, after processing byharvester station 32, automated pickup station 42 may pick up a growtower 50 from the outfeed conveyor of harvester station 32 rotate thegrow tower 50 to vertical and place it on a carriage 1202 of towerconveyance mechanism 46 for reinsertion into a grow line 202. A growtower 50 that undergoes “final-cut” processing is routed to washingstation 34 and transplanter station 36 as described herein.

Towers designated as cut-agains take less time to process than towers 50designated as final cuts, as cut-again towers need not pass throughcleaning station 34 and transplanter station 36. Pre-harvest buffers2190, 2192 provide a space to buffer grow towers 50 prior to initiatingharvester station 32 in order to ensure an adequate supply of growtowers 50 for efficient processing. A controller selectively routes growtowers 50, as appropriate, to either the cut-again buffer 2190 or finalcut buffer 2192. Automated laydown station 41 can selectively accessgrow towers 50 from either buffer 2190 or 2192 under control of acontrol system as may be required. The use of separate vertical towerbuffers allows the farm system 10 to alternate between cut-again andfinal-cut towers and maintain a consistent mix of final-cut andcut-again grow towers 50 for processing, despite such types of growtowers arriving in batches from growth environment. The use of separatebuffers also allows system 10 to accommodate for the different cycletimes of the cut-again and final-cut towers, increasing the total numberof towers than can be processed within a given time span and improvingthe average cycle time of overall tower processing. In oneimplementation, automated laydown station 41 can alternate 1:1 betweenfinal-cut and cut-again pre-harvest buffers 2190, 2192 provided thatboth tower types are available. In other implementations, however,differences in cycle times between such tower types may suggest a ratioof 2 cut-again towers for every 1 final-cut tower. Other implementationsare possible. For example, the system 10 may also include a verticalreject buffer (not shown) to provide a space to temporarily store growtowers that have failed a quality inspection. The reject buffer allows arejected tower to simply be routed out of the processing pathway andstored for later handling .

One or more of the controllers discussed above, such as the one or morecontrollers for central processing system 30, may be implemented asfollows. FIG. 25 illustrates an example of a computer system 800 thatmay be used to execute program code stored in a non-transitory computerreadable medium (e.g., memory) in accordance with embodiments of thedisclosure. The computer system includes an input/output subsystem 802,which may be used to interface with human users or other computersystems depending upon the application. The I/O subsystem 802 mayinclude, e.g., a keyboard, mouse, graphical user interface, touchscreen,or other interfaces for input, and, e.g., a LED or other flat screendisplay, or other interfaces for output, including application programinterfaces (APIs). Other elements of embodiments of the disclosure, suchas the controller, may be implemented with a computer system like thatof computer system 800.

Program code may be stored in non-transitory media such as persistentstorage in secondary memory 810 or main memory 808 or both. Main memory808 may include volatile memory such as random-access memory (RAM) ornon-volatile memory such as read only memory (ROM), as well as differentlevels of cache memory for faster access to instructions and data.Secondary memory may include persistent storage such as solid-statedrives, hard disk drives or optical disks. One or more processors 804reads program code from one or more non-transitory media and executesthe code to enable the computer system to accomplish the methodsperformed by the embodiments herein. Those skilled in the art willunderstand that the processor(s) may ingest source code, and interpretor compile the source code into machine code that is understandable atthe hardware gate level of the processor(s) 804. The processor(s) 804may include graphics processing units (GPUs) for handlingcomputationally intensive tasks.

The processor(s) 804 may communicate with external networks via one ormore communications interfaces 807, such as a network interface card,WiFi transceiver, etc. A bus 805 communicatively couples the I/Osubsystem 802, the processor(s) 804, peripheral devices 806,communications interfaces 807, memory 808, and persistent storage 810.Embodiments of the disclosure are not limited to this representativearchitecture. Alternative embodiments may employ different arrangementsand types of components, e.g., separate buses for input-outputcomponents and memory subsystems.

Facility Layout & Arrangement

FIG. 26 is a functional block diagram illustrating an examplecontrolled-environment agriculture production facility 2600. As FIG. 26illustrates, production facility 2600 includes growth environment 20,central processing system 30, propagation space 2602, post-harvestprocessing space 2604, and cold storage space 2606. Production facilityalso includes seeding space 2608, receiving space 2610, receiving space2612, and aqueous nutrient supply system 2614. One or more space or areacomponents of production facility 2600 may be housed within a warehousebuilding or any other suitable building structure. For example,receiving spaces 2610 and 2612 may not be subject to environmentalcontrols and have be subject to ambient temperature and air conditions.In other implementations, receiving spaces 2610 and 2612 are containedin a controlled environment.

As discussed above, growth environment 20 may be asubstantially-encapsulated space to facilitate control of one or moreenvironmental conditions to which crops are exposed and to reduce riskof potential contaminants and pests. As FIGS. 1 and 2 illustrate,central processing system 30 is adjacent to growth environment 20. Inthe implementations shown, harvesting station 32, washing station 34 andtransplanter station 36 are arranged in a substantially linearorientation parallel to the direction of travel of the grow lines 202.As FIG. 26 illustrates, grow lines 202 may be arranged in asubstantially parallel orientation. Adding grow line capacity can beaccomplished by adding grow lines 202 to the end of growth environment20 that is opposite central processing system 30. In someimplementations, growth environment 20 may comprise separate modules,each encapsulating one or more grow lines 202. Aqueous nutrient supplysystem 2614 includes one or more fluid tanks, nutrient supply and mixingequipment, fluid pumps, manifolds, plumbing and related equipment toprovide aqueous nutrients to grow lines 202 as discussed above. Theplumbing (not shown) delivering nutrient solution from aqueous nutrientsupply system 2614 can extend over growth environment 20 and/or growlines 202. Furthermore, HVAC systems, such as chillers, air handlers andother equipment bay be housed between sections of growth environment 20and/or placed on the top of the structure that contains the facility2600.

Implementations of production facility 2600 are arranged to optimizeefficiency.

In some implementations, production facility 2602 may be configured toreduce or minimize total product flow distance from seed stage topost-harvest processing and cold storage. Minimizing or reducing thismetric increases cost efficiencies by, for example, reducing the totallength of conveyors used in the facility. The layout of productionfacility 2602 may also be configured to reduce or minimize otherattributes, such as the percentage of unutilized space, the distance ofemployee travel, the maximum distance between any two stations in thefacility 2600, length of cabling, plumbing and/or HVAC ducting, andtotal wall length.

Propagation space 2602 includes equipment for growing young plants instacked horizontal beds (or plug trays) for later transplant into growtowers 50. Propagation space 2602 may include a rack system forvertically stacking the horizontal beds or plug trays. In oneimplementation, propagation space 2602 is a substantially encapsulatedgrowth environment that includes air handling, lighting, climatecontrol, irrigation and other equipment to grow plants from seed stageto transplant stage. The grow lights used in propagation space 2602 maybe air-cooled and located above each horizontal bed. In one embodiment,plants are initially grown in so-called plug-trays, where each trayinclude multiple plugs that are ultimately transferred to transplanterstation 36 when ready. As FIG. 26 demonstrates, propagation space 2602is located adjacent to central processing system and proximal totransplanter station 36. Such a configuration minimizes the distanceplug trays are required to travel from propagation space 2602 totransplanter station 36. In one implementation, a conveyor may transferloaded plug trays from propagation area 2602 to transplanter station 36.Seeding area 2608 is a space including one or more stations andassociated equipment for filling plug trays with growth medium, seeds,and other nutrient or water solutions to meet the nutritionalrequirements for ideal growth per variety. In the implementation shown,seeding area 2608 is adjacent to propagation space 2602. In addition toa seeding line, the seeding space 2608 may also include media/soilstorage, storage for seeds in a controlled temperature environment(e.g., a refrigerator) depending on requirements, and potentiallymedia/soil mixing equipment. Seeding area 2608 may also includeventilation equipment.

Post-harvest processing space 2604 may be an encapsulated environmentthat includes equipment for processing crops after they have beenharvested from grow towers 50 at harvester station 32. In someimplementations, post-harvest processing space 2604 is a substantiallyencapsulated space subject to controlled environmental conditions; forexample, post-harvesting space 2604 may be a cooled or refrigeratedenvironment, or a warmed environment to accommodate other types ofcrops. In some implementations, the equipment included in post-harvestprocessing space 2604 may include crop washing and drying equipment,product quality equipment, product cooling equipment, product packagingequipment, and food safety equipment. Other equipment may includeprocess isolation equipment for sanitation purposes. Post-harvestprocessing space 2604 is arranged adjacent to central processing system30 and proximal to harvester station 32 to minimize or reduce thedistance that harvested crop travels from harvester station 32. In oneimplementation, bin conveyor 2304 can extend directly into post-harvestprocessing space 2604 to convey bins loaded with harvested crop into thespace. In one implementation, harvested product can be harvesteddirectly onto conveyance without bins, and transported to thepost-harvest processing space 2604. In addition, harvested product(whether in bins or conveyed directly on a conveyor) may also be subjectto cooling systems (such as vacuum cooling, a cooling tunnel, etc.) asit is conveyed to post-harvest processing space 2604. Similarly, coldstorage space 2606 is a controlled, refrigerated environment adapted forstoring packaged crops for shipment depending on the specific cropstorage environmental requirements. In some implementations, theequipment included in cold storage space 2606 may include packagepalletizing equipment, case erecting equipment, and other inventorystorage equipment or infrastructure. In the implementation shown, coldstorage space 2606 is adjacent to post-harvest processing space 2604.

Receiving space 2610 and receiving space 2612 are areas of facility 2600adapted for receiving supplies. Additionally, receiving spaces 2610 and2612 may house any additional electrical or mechanical equipment thatdoes not need to be installed within the clean or controlled environmentof the production facility. In one implementation, spaces 2610 and 2610are connected to loading bays 2620, 2622 including one or more dockdoors 2624 for receiving supplies shipped by truck. Receiving space 2612may be located more proximally to propagation space 2602 and seedingspace 2608 in order to reduce the distance traveled for seeds, soil andother supplies consumed by such spaces. Similarly, receiving space 2610may be located more proximally to post-harvest processing space 2604and/or central processing system 30 to receive supplies consumed in suchareas. Similarly, cold storage space 2606 may include dock doors 2624allowing for flow of product out of loading bay 2622.

As FIG. 26 illustrates, total product flow from seed to packaging isboth direct and efficient, reducing operating time, operating cost andcapital expenditure. In particular, the product flow starts at seedstation 2608 where plug trays are filled with soil and seeded. Theproduct flow proceeds to the propagation space 2602 where plantsgerminate and are ready for transplant. The plug trays are then conveyedto transplant station 36 of central processing system 30, where theplugs are inserted in crop-bearing modules, such as the plug containersof grow towers 50. The grow towers 50 are inserted into growthenvironment 20 where they proceed from one end to another of the spacealong grow lines 202. Grow towers 50 are then transferred to harvestingstation 32 where the crop is harvested and conveyed to post-harvestprocessing space 2604. The packaged product is ultimately stored in coldstorage facility 2606 from where it may be ultimately shipped out of thefacility 2600 from loading bay 2622 via dock doors 2624.

FIG. 27 illustrates an alternative layout for a production facility2700. In this implementation, propagation area 2702 is not enclosed bywalls; however, the propagation racking that houses plug trays isencapsulated or sealed off. Production facility 2700 includes a singlereceiving space 2710 located substantially proximal to both propagationarea 2702 and post-harvest processing space 2704. In one implementation,loading bays can extend from receiving area 2710 and cold storage space2706 to facilitate loading and unloading from trucks. Otherwise,production facility 2700 is substantially the same as productionfacility 2600.

FIG. 28 illustrates an alternative layout for a production facility2800. In the layouts depicted in FIGS. 26 and 27, the overall productflow resembles a u-shape. The layout depicted in FIG. 28 has a morelinear product flow. In the layout illustrated in FIG. 28, propagationarea 2802 is located in an alternative location relative to the layoutdepicted in FIG. 26 or FIG. 27 in that it is located at the end ofprocessing system 30 and growth environment 20. Furthermore,post-harvest processing space 2804 and cold storage area 2806 arearranged substantially in line with the stations of central processingsystem 30. Otherwise, production facility 2800 is substantially the sameas production facility 2600.

FIG. 29 illustrates another alternative layout for a productionfacility. Overall, the layout illustrates in FIG. 29 is somewhat similarin configuration to the layout of FIG. 27. In FIG. 29, however, thefacility includes an inbound loading bay 2922 to receive supplies andother inventory for use by the facility and an outbound loading bay 2923to facilitate shipping out crops produced in the facility. As shown,inbound and outbound loading bays 2922, 2923 are disposed adjacently tocentral processing system 30 and between propagation area 2902 andpost-harvest processing space 2804. Still further, growth environment 20may be separated into multiple sub-sections 21, where the grow lines 202run substantially perpendicular to the flow of stations 32, 34 and 36 incentral processing system 30. Each of the growth environments 21 may beseparately controlled to support optimized growing for a variety ofdifferent crop types. In the implementation shown, a vertical towertransfer conveyance mechanism may be configured to include tracksections that loop into each growth environment 21. A control system cancause the transfer conveyance mechanism to route carriages 1202 toselect grow lines 202 within a select growth environment 21. Stillfurther, in each growth environment 21, the grow lines 202 may beu-shaped such that grow towers 50 are injected into and extracted from agrow line 202 at the same side or end (e.g., the side closest to centralprocessing system 30) of the growth environment 21. In a particularimplementation, u-shaped grow lines 202 have a first path section, asecond path section and a return mechanism that transfers grow towers 50from the end of the first path section to the beginning of the secondpath section.

Although the disclosure may not expressly disclose that some embodimentsor features described herein may be combined with other embodiments orfeatures described herein, this disclosure should be read to describeany such combinations that would be practicable by one of ordinary skillin the art. Unless otherwise indicated herein, the term “include” shallmean “include, without limitation,” and the term “or” shall meannon-exclusive “or” in the manner of “and/or.”

Those skilled in the art will recognize that, in some embodiments, someof the operations described herein may be performed by humanimplementation, or through a combination of automated and manual means.When an operation is not fully automated, appropriate components ofembodiments of the disclosure may, for example, receive the results ofhuman performance of the operations rather than generate results throughits own operational capabilities.

All references, articles, publications, patents, patent publications,and patent applications cited herein are incorporated by reference intheir entireties for all purposes to the extent they are notinconsistent with embodiments of the disclosure expressly describedherein. However, mention of any reference, article, publication, patent,patent publication, and patent application cited herein is not, andshould not be taken as an acknowledgment or any form of suggestion thatthey constitute valid prior art or form part of the common generalknowledge in any country in the world, or that they are discloseessential matter.

Several features and aspects of the present invention have beenillustrated and described in detail with reference to particularembodiments by way of example only, and not by way of limitation. Forexample, although certain embodiments discussed above are disclosed asoperating in connection with vertical grow towers andvertical-to-horizontal interfacing systems, the present invention alsocontemplates systems where grow towers remain substantially vertical forvarious processing operations. In addition, other embodimentscontemplate that the controlled growth environment houses horizontaltroughs or trays where crops are grown in horizontal structures. Stillfurther, the controlled growth environment may also contain verticalwall structures, such as those disclosed in US Patent Publication Nos.2018/0014485 and 2018/0014486. Those of skill in the art will appreciatethat alternative implementations and various modifications to thedisclosed embodiments are within the scope and contemplation of thepresent disclosure. Therefore, it is intended that the invention beconsidered as limited only by the scope of the appended claims.

1. A crop production facility for controlled environment agriculture,comprising: a growth environment having a first end and a second end,the growth environment comprising a grow conveyance mechanism forconveying crop modules from the first end to the second end; wherein thegrowth environment and the grow conveyance mechanism comprises avertical grow tower conveyance system comprising one or more grow linesextending from the first end to the second end of the growthenvironment; a plurality of grow towers, each of the plurality of growtowers vertically attached to, and moveable along, a respective one ofthe one or more grow lines, wherein each of the plurality of grow towersincludes a plurality of grow sites extending at least along one facethereof; and a grow tower conveyance mechanism operative to move the oneor more grow towers along a respective grow line from a first end to asecond end; a central processing system located adjacently to the growthenvironment comprising a transplanter station arranged proximal to thefirst end of the growth environment; a harvester station arrangedproximal to the second end of the growth environment; and a post-harvestprocessing facility located adjacent to the central processing systemand proximal to the harvester station; wherein the harvester stationcomprises a crop harvesting machine, and a feeder mechanism to receive agrow tower in a horizontal orientation and feed the grow tower throughthe crop harvesting machine in a horizontal orientation; and wherein thecrop production facility further comprises an automated laydown stationcomprising a first robot including an end effector adapted to releasablygrasp a grow tower, and control logic operative to cause the first robotto pick the grow tower from a pick location in a vertical orientation,rotate the grow tower to a horizontal orientation and place the growtower on a conveyor for loading into the harvester station.
 2. The cropproduction facility of claim 1 further comprising a propagation areaadjacent to the central processing system and adjacent to thetransplanter station.
 3. The crop production facility of claim 2 furthercomprising a seeding area adjacent to the propagation area.
 4. The cropproduction facility of claim 2 wherein the propagation area is asubstantially enclosed space.
 5. The crop production facility of claim 1further comprising a cold storage facility adjacent to the post-harvestprocessing facility.
 6. The crop production facility of claim 1 furthercomprising a conveyor configured to carry bins or harvested productdirectly on the belt from the harvester station to the post-harvestprocessing facility.
 7. The crop production facility of claim 5 furthercomprising a loading bay adjacent to the cold storage facility.
 8. Thecrop production facility of claim 3 further comprising a loading bayadjacent to the seeding area and proximal to the propagation area. 9.The crop production facility of claim 1 wherein the growth environmentis substantially encapsulated and comprises one or more control systemsfor controlling one or more environmental variables.
 10. (canceled) 11.(canceled)
 12. The crop production facility of claim 1 wherein the oneor more grow lines are arrayed substantially parallel to the centralprocessing system.
 13. The crop production facility of claim 1 furthercomprising a plurality of conveyors arranged to convey grow towers toand from respective ones of the harvester station and the transplanterstation, wherein the plurality of conveyors include a first conveyorarranged to feed a grow tower to the harvester station, and a secondconveyor arranged to feed a grow tower to the transplanter station. 14.A crop production facility for controlled environment agriculture,comprising: a substantially encapsulated growth environment containing avertical grow tower conveyance system comprising one or more grow lines;a plurality of grow towers, each of the plurality of grow towersvertically attached to, and moveable along, a respective one of the oneor more grow lines, wherein each of the plurality of grow towersincludes a plurality of grow sites extending at least along one facethereof; a grow tower conveyance mechanism operative to move the one ormore grow towers along a respective grow line from a first end to asecond end; a central processing system comprising a harvester stationcomprising a crop harvesting machine, and a feeder mechanism to receivea grow tower in a horizontal orientation and feed the grow tower throughthe crop harvesting machine in a horizontal orientation; a washingstation comprising a second feeder mechanism to receive a grow tower ina horizontal orientation and feed the grow tower through the washingstation in a horizontal orientation; a transplanter station comprising athird feeder mechanism to receive a grow tower in a horizontalorientation and feed the grow tower through the transplanter station ina horizontal orientation; a plurality of conveyors arranged to conveygrow towers to and from respective ones of the harvester station, thewashing station and the transplanter station, wherein the plurality ofconveyors include a first conveyor arranged to feed a grow tower to theharvester station, a second conveyor arranged to feed a grow tower tothe washing station, a third conveyor arranged to feed a grow tower tothe transplanter station, and a fourth conveyor arranged to feed a growtower from the transplanter station to a pickup location; and anautomated laydown station comprising a first robot including an endeffector adapted to releasably grasp a grow tower, and control logicoperative to cause the first robot to pick the grow tower from a picklocation in a vertical orientation, rotate the grow tower to ahorizontal orientation and place the tower on a conveyor for loadinginto the harvester station; an automated pickup station comprising asecond robot including an end effector adapted to releasably grasp agrow tower, and control logic operative to cause the second robot tograsp a grow tower from the pickup location in a horizontal orientation,rotate the grow tower to a vertical orientation for transfer to a selectgrow line of the plurality of grow lines; a propagation facilityadjacent to the central processing system and proximal to thetransplanter station; a post-harvest processing facility locatedadjacent to the central processing system and proximal to the harvesterstation.
 15. The crop production system of claim 14 further comprisingan unload transfer conveyor comprising a plurality of carriages disposedon a track; and wherein the unload transfer conveyor is configured toconvey carriages carrying grow towers releasably attached thereto fromthe one or more grow lines in the controlled growth environment to apick location reachable by the first robot of the automated laydownstation.
 16. The crop production system of claim 14 further comprising aloading transfer conveyor comprising a plurality of carriages disposedon a track; and wherein the loading transfer conveyor is configured toconvey carriages carrying grow towers releasably attached thereto fromthe automated pickup station to the one or more grow lines.
 17. The cropproduction facility of claim 14 further comprising a seeding areaadjacent to the propagation area.
 18. The crop production facility ofclaim 14 wherein the propagation area is a substantially enclosed space.19. The crop production facility of claim 14 further comprising a coldstorage facility adjacent to the post-harvest processing facility. 20.The crop production facility of claim 14 further comprising a conveyorconfigured to carry bins from the harvester station to the post-harvestprocessing facility.
 21. The crop production facility of claim 19further comprising a loading bay adjacent to the cold storage facility.22. The crop production facility of claim 17 further comprising aloading bay adjacent to the seeding area and proximal to the propagationarea.
 23. (canceled)
 24. (canceled)
 25. (canceled)
 26. (canceled)